Effect of estradiol and ethynylestradiol on microtubule distribution in Chinese hamster V79 cells.

The effects of estradiol (E2) and ethynylestradiol (EE2) on the chromosome number and cellular microtubule architecture of Chinese hamster V79 cells were studied using fluorescent anti-tubulin antibody. Treatment with 20 microM E2 for 48 h induced only a small amount of tetraploid cells, but the normal microtubule network was disrupted completely by only 3 h of treatment. This data reveals that E2 has higher microtubule-disruptive activity than diethylstilbestrol in V79 cells.